Guest-worker
days were safer
Who doesn't prefer legal entrants over undocumented ones? The trouble is stricter policies and greater hurdles have made things worse. Migrants who used to be able to pass over our border relatively cheaply and easily could work here, then go home to see their families every now and then. Making things trickier and more expensive means people can't do this, and opt to bring their families with them instead. And who would not prefer to keep people from dying either from cartels in their homeland, or in our brutal desert? If they cannot pass legally through our ports of entry, those other fates afflict many.
Cindy Hansen
Foothills
Extremists back
Sinema for now
I am amazed at the hypocrisy of some lauding Sen. Kyrsten Sinema for "representing all Arizonans" by upholding the filibuster. They say they could vote for her. They won’t. They will, however, use Sinema as a cudgel against Sen. Mark Kelly to make a moderate look radical. All these newly converted Sinema fans really care about is keeping power, therefore only like-minded folks need vote.
If their concern was truly representative government, they wouldn’t put right-wing extremists, like Rep. Mark Finchem and Sen. Vince Leach, in office. We wouldn’t constantly be spoon-fed lies about Democrats being radical communists who don’t care about border security or election integrity. The extremists, who have taken over the Arizona GOP, make it very clear they only want to represent the fringe elements in our state, not center-right voters. Electing such people is the surefire way to kill democracy.
Barbara Russo-Sprouls
SaddleBrooke
For constituents,
a step backward
Re: the Feb. 7 letter "Stale response from Sinema."
I share the letter writer's frustration with nonresponsive replies from elected officials. Blame the sheer volume of e-mail received by members of Congress.
At the risk of showing my age, I remember "back in the day" when Congressman Mo Udall sent regular constituent newsletters by U.S. mail. Letters to his office received thoughtful replies (also by U.S. mail) that actually addressed your issues.
"Back in the day" sending a letter required some work. You needed to roll a sheet of paper into the typewriter (remember them?), compose, type and sign your letter, address and stamp an envelope, and drop in a mailbox.
Now we only need to type and click on the send button. Progress?
William Thornton
Midtown
Double standard
on UA sidelines
Arizona’s women basketball coach Adia Barnes was recently reprimanded for a middle-finger gesture. She later issued a sincere apology.
Let’s go back to January 2016 when Sean Miller publicly ripped into student athlete Kaleb Tarczewski during a game. Miller’s behavior was totally inappropriate and the words he screamed at Tarczewski were disgusting and vile.
I never heard a reprimand for the incident and never an apology from Miller. In fact, sports writer Greg Hansen asked him about the incident days later. All Hansen got was a dirty look and a snide comment.
Adia Barnes used a finger gesture. This was totally wrong by Barnes. She admitted her mistake and apologized. Miller’s behavior and words toward a young adult were much worse and I never saw it addressed in public. No apology ever by Miller.
Let’s do a better job of treating all equally.
Mark Campbell
Amado
Prohibitionist
model has failed
Re: the Feb. 9 article "Closing the border to killer drugs."
I would suggest that Jay Ambrose rethink his stance on drugs. The fact is, if you continue to use the same formula for any problem, you will get the same answer.
Portugal, and now Oregon, decided to essentially rewrite the formula. Portugal made individual possession legal, essentially treating drug use for what it is, a medical problem. Users can get access to both drugs and rehabilitation within the medical system while continuing to treat sales as a crime.
The result was a drop both in use and sales because this fundamentally changed the economics of drug distribution.
As long as we continue to treat drugs as a moral failure we will continue to see the same results. We will if the Oregon experiment works in the U.S. as it did in Portugal.
I believe it will, but let's wait for the data.
Mike Seibold
East side
New flight rules
to breach peace
Re: the Jan. 29 article "AF seeks to change flight rules in AZ zones."
I was concerned about reading this article.
While the Air Force says it needs to "optimize training," these rules changes will have massive consequences. For example, if the changes are allowed, some areas will only have sleep from midnight to 6 a.m. Other areas will have sleep only from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. Also, some supersonic speeds may be allowed down to 5,000 feet above sea level, from 30,000 feet. Tombstone is 4,541 feet above sea level. Morenci is 4,741. Airplanes that fly over the city of Tucson are a few hundred feet above ground. Imagine the horrifying sonic-boom noise if these same planes were flying supersonic speeds over Tucson. That's how it would be for Tombstone, Morenci and other affected areas.
Civilians are supposed to control the military, but these changes would allow the military to control civilians' lives.
Write your federal representatives to stop this travesty.
Matt Somers
Midtown
Teachers can
be trusted
Re: the Feb. 9 article "We need to let teachers teach."
Mr. Pitts got it right in his commentary, unfortunately he is probably "preaching to the choir" in this state. I doubt that many of our legislators, local school board members or protesters read the Star’s commentary section — too liberal. If they had, and just focused on his last three paragraphs, they would have gleaned most of the message, "Let teachers teach." They are after all trained professionals; you don’t see these groups second-guessing doctors or first responders. But education is personal so everyone feels they should have a stake in it. But your stake should not impact my student, and parents need to parent their own children, not mine.
Arizona’s Legislature is busily crafting laws that ignore those needs and even the professionals' desires (state Superintendent Hoffman/staff). Thus, creating an education system that suits themselves and their conservative donors. We were better off when education appealed to the masses, and we funded schools to teach.
Robert Selby
East side
COVID cases
underreported
The idea that states are lifting mask mandates is absurd! People all around me are getting COVID. Cases are not being reported because everyone is doing home tests. There needs to be a requirement that home tests be reported in order to make those important decisions.
Melissa Einfrank
West side
